Denis Viri

Dr. Denis Viri is Research Professor Emeritus.  He has worked in the field of Indigenous education for over 30 years as a social scientist-researcher who applies anthropological field methods to the study of educational settings and contexts.  In his 10-year career with the ASU Center for Indian Education, he was also the Associate Editor of the Journal of American Indian Education, which has been in continuous publication since 1961. Besides teaching and administrative experience on the Hopi (1975-1981) and Pascua Yaqui (1981-1983) Indian communities in Arizona, Dr. Viri has worked extensively with schools and tribal agencies on the Tohono O'odham, Navajo, Colorado River, Gila River, Ft. Mojave, and Ute Indian reservations. His work and research interests have also taken him to Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Khakasia, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Argentina. He also served previously as an English language teacher in the Peace Corps in the Somali Republic (1969-1970) and a teacher training/health and nutrition project in Tamil Nadu, India (1971). Dr. Viri received his Ph.D, in 1989 from the University of Arizona, completing a dissertation entitled, "Subjective Realities of American Indian Students in an Urban Community College Setting: A Tohono O'odham Case Study." His publications include:

Viri, D. F. (2014) Nation States and Native Tribal Language Vitality: Postcolonial Language Policy in North America and East Africa  In X. I. Ametzaga and V. Miglio (Eds)  Language Rights and Cultural Diversity, Center for Basque Studies Conference Papers, No. 9, University of Nevada, Reno..  

Viri, D. F., (2008). The Status of American Indian Languages Today. In J. M. Gonzalez (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education. Volume 1, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc;

 Viri, D. F., (2008). Boarding Schools and Native Languages. In J. M. Gonzalez (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education, Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc;

Beaulieu, D. A., Figueira, A, M., Viri, D. F., (2006) Indigenous Teacher Education: Research-Based Model in P. L. Jeffery (Ed), (2005) published by Australian Association for Research in Education. Parramatta, NSW. Available http://www.aare.edu.au/05pap/vir05321.pdf;

Viri, D. F., Benally, A. (2005) Dine Bizaad (Navajo language)at a Crossroads: Extinction or Renewal? Bilingual Education Research Journal. 29(1) 85-108;

Trujillo, O , Viri, D. F., Figueira, A. M. and Manuelito, K (2005) Educators Interface with Culture and Language in Schooling.(pp. 2274-2284) In J. Cohen, K T. McAlister, K. Rolstad, and J MacSwan (Eds) ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press;

Viri, D. F. (2003) Standards in American Indian/Alaska Native Education: Preparing Native and non-Native Teachers for Variable Contexts. In D. McInerney and S. Van Etten (Eds), Sociocultural Influences on Teacher Education, Volume 3, Greenwich CT: Information Age Publishing. 

Dr. Viri served as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer at Loro Core Primary Teacher's College in Northern Uganda in 2010-11 and has completed additional Peace Corps teaching and research support assignments at Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico from 2012-2015.  Dr. Viri also recently completed a year of service with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) working with an anti-poverty educational improvement initiative in Tucson, AZ.